Could James Bond be returning – after a four-year hiatus linked to the ongoing financial travails at studio MGM – in Skyfall? Whatculture.com has the scoop that a "brand protection company" working for Sony Pictures has been buying up myriad URLs featuring the title in what appears to be the traditional opening salvo against internet squatters ahead of the release of the new film. jamesbond-skyfall.com, skyfall-film.net, skyfall-thefilm.com and pretty much every other combination you can think of have been registered, suggesting one of two things: either the 23rd official Eon productions Bond movie is going to be called Skyfall, or somebody somewhere is having a rather pricey joke at the expense of trigger-happy film bloggers.

The original report tallies with Daniel Craig's suggestion within the past month that a name for his third foray as 007 has been decided, and Skyfall has a certain Flemingesque ring to it. It's a bland yet inoffensive title that would at least spare us the kind of bemusement that greeted Quantum of Solace. It would also be the shortest 007 title since series opener Dr No in 1962, and the first completely original one since Die Another Day a decade ago.

Some of the best Bond films have been those utilising just one word (Goldfinger and Goldeneye spring to mind), and some of the worst have had more convoluted titles, such as On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Quantum of Solace. The latter was partly an attempt to squeeze one last drop of genuine Fleming magic out before producers were forced to accept that they really are on their own: it was the title of a Bond short story whose events do not in any way parallel the events of the film. Still, better than Goldeneye, which was the name of Fleming's ranch.

Lyricists everywhere will also be scratching their heads. Jack White and Alicia Keys didn't even bother trying to squeeze the last film's title into their theme song (though Joe Cornish managed it just fine). Skyfall seems to rhyme only with inconvenient words such as eyeful, trifle and Michael. A bit of joined-up thinking here might not have gone amiss.

Bond 23 – or possibly Skyfall – is due to arrive in cinemas on 26 October 2012 (the US follows a fortnight later), with Sam Mendes, Oscar-winning British director of American Beauty, in charge of the cameras. Craig will be joined by Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes, as well as the ubiquitous Judi Dench as M. Naomie Harris has reportedly signed up as the new Miss Moneypenny. In the meantime, can anyone out there offer some plausible lyrics for a decent bash at a Skyfall theme song?